OpenAI has finally done it and added a real-time search feature to ChatGPT- SearchGPT.
This search tool allows for real-time results for conversational search queries within ChatGTP, which could be a major disruptor in the search engine market.
Google is still dominating the global search market with about 89% share as of October 2024, but this is actually a decrease from about 93% in early 2023.
Key Insights
Users Can Get Real-Time Results For Their Queries
Doing its best to imitate an actual search engine, SearchGPT gives users answers to their questions with results in real time. According to OpenAI:
"You can get fast, timely answers with links to relevant web sources, which you would have previously needed to go to a search engine for. This blends the benefits of a natural language interface with the value of up-to-date sports scores, news, stock quotes, and more."
You Can Use SearchGPT As Your Default Search Engine (In Chrome)
With the introduction of SearchGPT, you can now make ChatGPT your default search engine in Chrome. Once active, you can search directly in your browser URL bar.
Users Can Verify Sources With Links
Unlike before, when you get results through SearchGPT, it provides direct links to those sources to verify their validity and provide more [assurance] that you are getting the answers you want.
Publisher Attribution
Good news for publishers and other websites that want to "rank" in SearchGPT's results and track that attribution- Any results featured in SearchGPT's results. From Search Engine Journal:
"All citations include 'utm_source=chatgpt.com,' enabling publishers to track traffic from the platform directly in their analytics."
As far as how to optimize for AI search, you can already find tons of articles from various sources but it sounds like the most common tip is to just continue business as usual because it does get its results from an actual search engine after all.
Could this change as we learn more about ChatGPT's search capabilities? Absolutely! But for now, it's probably best to treat it as another search engine to follow best practices on your website if you want to show up in these results.
Future Development
OpenAI plans to continue developing its search capabilities, particularly in the shopping and travel sectors. Additionally, there are plans to roll out searchGPT to free and logged-out users in the future. It seems as though OpenAI is looking to disrupt the search engine market, and we're not entirely sure how this is going to play out.
Impact on Traditional SEO
With Google's AI Overviews becoming more prominent in mainly question-related searches and now SearchGPT being introduced, it's difficult to say where traditional search is going in the next 12 months.
Overall, the full impact of AI search is unknown as it is still relatively new. For now, the main concern with AI-powered search is decreased traffic coming from organic search channels due to zero-click searches.
What's Next?
In summary, SearchGPT signals a new era in the evolution of search technology, blending the interactivity of AI with the dynamic needs of real-time information retrieval. While Google continues to dominate the search engine market, SearchGPT could steadily attract users who value a more conversational, AI-driven approach to search.
This will obviously take some time since the AI boom is happening before our eyes and people are still mainly using AI tools for professional purposes. In the meantime, all we can do is stay vigilent and keep ourselves updated in the latest news around AI and search.